Russian President Vladimir Putin’s disdain for his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky is long standing and well known. It runs so deep that he almost never utters the name “Zelensky.” The Kremlin insists he’s an illegitimate leader, elected illegitimately. Russian state television calls him a “clown.” But US President Donald Trump has pinned his recent diplomacy on the idea that Putin and Zelensky will have to come face to face in order to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Trump n18oc_world n18oc_crux